More recycled water could be on tap

Flush a toilet in west Lathrop, and that wastewater - once it's treated - might irrigate a new neighborhood park or schoolyard.

Alex Breitler

Flush a toilet in west Lathrop, and that wastewater - once it's treated - might irrigate a new neighborhood park or schoolyard.

Officials across the state are searching for new uses for old water, thus saving the best and cleanest water for your tap.

About 500,000 acre-feet of wastewater is recycled each year in California, enough to flood more than half of San Joaquin County one foot deep.

But there's potential to nearly quadruple the amount of recycled water by the year 2030, state officials report. That could ease water shortages and relieve pressure on the Delta, from which 25 million Californians get at least some of their water.

Lathrop's wastewater is treated, of course, before being piped to parks and schoolyards.

"It's very clean water. It comes pretty close to meeting drinking-water standards," said Cary Keaton, the city's director of public works.

While everyone seems to think recycling water is important, officials are working on standards to make sure contaminants remaining in treated wastewater don't cause more harm than good.

Some water agencies say the proposed rules are too tough and will limit recycling opportunities, causing more wastewater to be discharged to rivers and streams.

Conservation groups, however, call for more stringent controls.

Recycled water can contain not only salt, but metals, pesticides and pharmaceuticals. These can pass through the water-treatment process, says the California Coastkeeper Alliance, a network of groups including San Francisco-based Baykeeper.

"Using recycled water to increase supply is only effective when the water quality of existing resources is protected," alliance director Linda Sheehan said.

Some San Joaquin County agencies that recycle water say they don't think their operations will be affected by the new policy:

» In Lathrop, all of the wastewater from development west of Interstate 5 is reused, Keaton said.

"Potable water is very expensive, so you want to use it for potable purposes," he said.

» Manteca for years has used recycled water to irrigate alfalfa crops grown around its sewage treatment plant, as does the city of Lodi. The crops have been used for cattle feed and not for human consumption.

Recent upgrades at the Manteca plant now allow the city to do more. It plans soon to deliver recycled water to the city's golf course, which gulps down up to a million gallons of water a day during the summer, said Phil Govea, deputy director of Public Works.

» Tracy plans to expand water recycling in the future, including irrigation of parks, school grounds and median islands on public streets.

» Stockton's treated wastewater is released into the San Joaquin River, and the city plans in future years to draw a like amount of drinking water from elsewhere in the Delta.

This, in a sense, is water recycling, said Mark Madison, Stockton's director of Municipal Utilities.

The city also is requiring new large developments to install pipes that can take nonpotable water for landscaping.

"Recycling water is a great thing," Madison said. "There will for a long time still be customer perceptions (about using treated wastewater) that will have to be overcome."

The south state is far ahead of Northern California when it comes to water conservation, said Delta water watchdog Bill Jennings. While he's concerned about the contaminants that might exist even in treated wastewater, he said recycling when properly regulated would be a "crucial" ingredient in future water policy.